Toto Has Surgery...

Toto, the larger of the two boys, was born with a birth defect where one eyelid is slightly larger than it should be. This condition (referred by his physician as an entropion) causes the eyelid to fold inwards leading to his eyelashes rubbing against the inside of his eye and predisposing him to recurring eye infections. The time has come to treat Toto's condition with eye surgery. In preparation for the surgery, Toto needed an eye exam to confirm the diagnosis. Before surgery, Mom and I took Toto to the Ryan J. Matthew Veterinary Clinic in the southwest portion of Philadelphia on the Penn Medical campus. Toto wasn't really happy about being poked by four medical students and an eye doctor, but, he endured the examination like a champ.

Once the examination was over, Toto, couldn't wait to get back in the carrier and get back home. Once Toto was back home, he crawled under the sofa and decided that he didn't want to be bothered for a while. But, after I bribed him with a can of tuna, all sins were forgiven -- well, not quite. It took a couple of days for Toto to return to his normal self. Toto doesn't like going to see doctors any more than people do. Little does Toto know that this was the easy part...

Toto had surgery to correct a defect in his eye... This past Wednesday, Mom and I got up extra early and I stuffed Toto into his carrier. Toto wasn't a happy camper, but, handled his incarceration very well. On the trip to the hospital, we passed by the infamous site where three hours later, a building would collapse onto a Salvation Army store, killing six people and injuring fourteen others. It was fortunate that we had opted for an extra early hospital appointment. We arrived at the hospital and dropped off a very unhappy Toto.

After the surgery, Toto's attending physician advised that Toto's surgery went well, but, that he was slightly dehydrated and had to be given extra fluids. We picked up Toto at 3:00pm. By then, traffic in the city was thoroughly snarled due to the aforementioned building collapse.

Toto was a thoroughly miserable kitty, sporting a nifty new cone. When we arrived home, I let Toto out of the carrier and he immediately headed upstairs to be away from everyone. Interestingly, both Daisy and Otto shunned the new cone-headed kitty monster.

Toto didn't feel like eating anything until early Thursday morning. Toto nibbled a bit of dry food, had a small amount of water to drink and even managed to maneuver around his cat box in his cone, but, eating and particularly drinking is very awkward in a cone. One of the downsides of the cone is that I have to supervise Toto's feeding sessions.

On Thursday afternoon, I removed Toto's cone and replaced it with a doughnut. As fate would have it, Daisy and Otto refused to associate with the doughnut-headed monster. This actually works to my advantage as Otto would normally feel compelling need to clean his brother's face and possibly pop one of Toto's stitches. Toto was still out of sorts for much of Thursday. Late on Thursday night, Toto began to return to normal and treated himself to a peek out of the downstairs front window.

By Friday morning, Toto was continuing to return to his old habits and the swelling around his eye was beginning to noticeably lessen. One of the nice things about the doughnut is that it's less awkward for Toto to eat and drink, which means that I do not need to supervise Toto while he eats and drinks. Since Toto knows that he cannot get the doughnut into his usual hiding places, Toto has taken to retreating to the upstairs hallway. In order to coax Toto into making himself more available, I bribed Toto with cans of cat food. I mixed in a little water with the food to ensure that Toto would get some water.

By Saturday, the swelling in Toto's face had diminished and Toto was spending more time downstairs. Since Toto's has been receiving special food, Toto's brother, Otto, has decided not to be as terrified of the doughnut-headed monster as he was two days ago.

Daisy, for her part, didn't like Toto before the surgery and likes him even less after the surgery. Daisy typically growls at Toto and gets all big and puffy. So far, Daisy seems content to just run away if Toto gets too close.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Update

On Sunday evening, Toto spent the entire night downstairs for the first time since the surgery. Daisy still grumbles when Toto gets near, but, she has stopped puffing herself up.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Update

Early on Tuesday, Toto managed to escape from his doughnut. I was away, so, it fell to Mom and my nephew, Anthony to catch Toto and put the cone of shame on his head. I'm told that Toto led Mom on a frantic chase through the house before he was eventually captured.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Update

Wednesday passed by largely uneventfully. The doughnut-headed monster managed to not escape from his doughnut. Toto hasn't been eating as well as I would like, but, I'm determined to get at least two meals into him each day. The day the stitches can be removed can't get here soon enough.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Update

Toto is still not eating and drinking at his normal level, but, I did manage to get some food and water into him. Toto was mad at me last night, but, I gave a tiny bit of butter on the tip of my finger. At first, he wasn't sure what to make of it. He tasted a little bit of butter and decided that he didn't like the taste of it, but, he also decided to stop being mad at me. Toto slept downstairs overnight.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Update

Toto slept downstairs overnight and stayed downstairs for part of the day. Toto did not feel inclined to eat or drink early this morning, but, did eat and drink later in the morning. Apparently he was full of cat snacks.